Corporate tax services that are on your side.

Not all corporate tax services are equal. Our tax services defend your business interests to reduce audit risk and minimize your tax liability.

No obligation.

Our simple corporate tax preparation process will get you filed in no time.

Here's how it works.

Consultation

Free, private consultation will give you insight on tax strategy opportunities for your corporation.

Financials Review

Corporate financials review for optimum tax optimization.

Filing

Direct filing with the IRS and state.

S-Corp, C-Corp, or Partnership

For business owners filing with an S-Corp, C-Corp, or Partnership business.

Starting at

$895

Forms

File S-Corp, C-Corp, or Partnership taxes your way.
Work with a tax pro.

We’ll do the work and help grow your bottom line by finding every available credit and deduction.

Accurate corporate tax preparation is essential for U.S. business owners. The IRS has several rules and regulations that apply to corporate tax filings, and making a mistake can cost your company late fees or non-payment penalties. 

You can avoid adverse tax issues and lower your corporate tax liability with professional corporate tax preparation services. Explore corporate tax prep services from Tax Shark and learn how our professional tax planning and filing services can help you grow your corporation.

What Types of Businesses are Eligible?

The IRS requires all corporations to file annual tax returns, regardless of whether they turned a profit during the fiscal year.

Companies incorporated as S-corporations or C-corporations are required to file corporate taxes. The IRS requires C-corporations to pay taxes on all profits, excluding deductions. S-corporations may elect to be classified as pass-through entities and pass earned profits to their owners, who will pay the state and local tax on their personal income tax returns.

As pass-through entities, limited liability companies (LLCs) like sole proprietorships and partnerships are not considered separate tax entities like corporations. An LLC may elect to be treated as a corporation for tax purposes.

Depending on the number of members and election made by the LLC, the IRS will treat the LLC as either a corporation, partnership, or disregarded entity (part of the LLC’s owner’s tax return.) A single-member LLC does not pay taxes or file an IRS return for income purposes. The sole owner must report all profits or losses on the owner’s 1040 tax return.

Many LLC owners elect C-corporation status to save money on their taxes. C-corporations are taxed at a 21% flat rate on all profits, which is lower than the highest three individual income tax rates (ranging from 32% to 37%) that LLC members would otherwise have to pay. By electing corporation status, the LLC receives significant tax savings.

Single-member LLCs (sole proprietorships) and multi-member LLCs (partnerships) can choose to elect corporate taxation status on IRS Form 8832, Entity Classification Election, by checking the corporate treatment box. 

If your corporation has more than $10 million in assets or files at least 250 returns annually, you must file Forms 1120 and 1120S electronically.

Specialized in Corporate Tax Services

When choosing a business tax preparation service, you must select a firm specializing in corporate taxes. Unlike individual tax preparation services, a company that focuses on corporate taxes understands the complex filing rules that apply to different corporate entity types, such as S corporations and C corporations.

A professional corporate tax service provider like Tax Shark begins your partnership with a tax review to assess your company’s tax liability and potential credits or deductions. Your tax review is followed by a financial review that helps the us determine how to maximize your tax savings, reducing your tax burden.

With a tax pro like Tax Shark, you are guaranteed 100% accuracy on your state and federal returns and have access to year-round support. These factors work together to ensure you maximize your returns year over year to grow your corporation’s bottom line.

Minimize and Defer Taxable Income

Using specialized corporate tax services offers several benefits to corporations and their shareholders, including minimized and deferred taxable income.

For example, you can deduct mileage and expenses for personal vehicles used for business and costs related to purchasing business equipment under Section 179. These include phones, computers, and printers.

Services include providing deferral strategies such as contributing to employee IRAs or retirement plans or investing in employee benefits programs like a Health Savings Account (HSA). Another option may be to prepay expenses to lower your tax bill.  

Reducing or deferring your taxable income lowers your overall tax liability, making them excellent strategies for retaining your earnings. But it’s always a good idea to work with a tax professional to understand your current rate of return and the proper timing of tax deferral strategies.

Grow your Bottom Line

A corporate tax preparation service can help you grow your bottom line. Many corporations suffer from a lack of tax planning and preparation, resulting in significant net losses for the company when filing taxes. Without an effective corporate tax strategy, you may lose out on credits or deductions throughout the year and end up with a significant tax burden you didn’t expect.

Using tax minimization strategies year-round with outsourced corporate tax preparation services, you can boost your earnings year-round. You can take advantage of temporary and standard credits and deductions and plan your cash flow accordingly.

For example, if your company or small business focuses on research and development, you may benefit from a temporary retroactive application of research and development (R&D) credits under certain circumstances.

Growing your bottom line also includes attracting investors to help you grow your business. You can boost investor interest by lowering your effective tax rate, which is the overall percentage of income you pay in taxes. You can calculate your effective tax rate by dividing your income tax expense by earned income before taxes.

For example, if your company earns $200,000 before taxes and pays $60,000 in taxes, your effective tax rate is 30% (60,000 / 200,000 = 0.3). Deductions and credits lower your effective tax rate, making your company more appealing to investors who can help you grow your bottom line.

Corporate Tax Audit Support

The goal of an IRS audit is to ensure that an individual or business has paid the correct amount of taxes. This goal is the same whether a business operates as a corporation, partnership, or LLC.

Audits for C-corporations may look a bit different since C-corps can do things that make them a target for IRS scrutiny, like sell stock, employ shareholders, and deduct employee bonuses.

For example, C-corporations can raise money by issuing shares of stock to investors with no immediate income tax implications to either the corporation or its shareholders. Many C-corp audits, therefore, focus on determining the legitimacy of these stock issuance transactions.

A C-corp can also employ its shareholders, offering the company an opportunity to hide non-deductible payments within deductible compensation. During an audit, the IRS will look at each employee’s services and determine if their salary seems appropriate.

Corporate tax returns are prepared using Form 1120, which the IRS scrutinizes during your audit, along with your financial statement. They may also look at Schedule M-1, a form unique to corporations.

Most C-corp audits are field audits, meaning you or your tax professional meet face to face with the auditor at your business or IRS office.

An IRS audit requires you to produce documentation to defend your tax behavior, which can be complicated, time-consuming, and costly without assistance from a tax professional specializing in audit defense.

As a result of your audit, you may face tax bills you can’t pay, backdated tax returns you need to amend, missing tax returns you must fill out, issues with international tax compliance, and current year tax returns you need to correct. You may discover that you owe more than you thought and have to pay penalties on interest in addition to your tax payments.

You may also face additional fees, such as:

  • Audit fees: fees necessary to perform the audit in accordance with GAAS, including services like comfort letters, statutory audits, assistance and review of documents, attest services, and consents.
  • Audit-related fees: due diligence services traditionally performed by the independent accountant, which may include employee benefit plans audits, accounting consultations, internal control reviews, and due diligence related to M&A.
  • Tax fees: fees for tax compliance (e.g., preparing and amending your tax return), tax planning (e.g., assistance with audits and appeals), and tax advice, including requests for rulings and technical advice from taxing authorities. 

 

If your corporation is selected for an audit, you have a right to tax audit representation.

Tax audit representation is when you hire a tax professional specializing in the audit process to help your company determine what facts and records should comprise your defense. Your tax expert can help with the audit and assist you with recordkeeping and internal controls to help you avoid audits in the future. 

Tax Shark’s tax experts are intimately familiar with IRS language and administrative procedures and can communicate directly with the IRS in your place. Sometimes, your audit representation may even reverse the IRS’s initial determinations.

Corporate Year-End Tax Planning

With Tax Shark, you benefit from year-end corporate tax planning services. These services include year-round tax planning support and a focus on finding and implementing tax-saving strategies that minimize your tax liability at the end of the tax year.

What is tax planning for corporations?

Corporate tax planning involves reviewing and assessing your corporation’s tax liabilities and finances to determine the most effective ways to reduce your tax responsibilities. Your accountant helps you understand what credits and deductions are available based on your corporation’s entity structure, industry, and earnings.

You can then work together to implement strategies, such as delaying year-end invoicing or paying into IRA plans to reduce your tax burdens for the following year.

How does tax planning reduce tax liability for corporations?

Tax planning reduces tax liability for corporations in several ways. When you use tax planning strategies, you can lower your taxable income, which reduces the overall amount of taxes you must pay. This approach uses deductions to reduce the earnings the IRS can tax your corporation on. 

Tax planning also helps you use IRS credits that offset expenses you pay during the year. For example, if you invest in energy-efficient equipment for your commercial property, you can benefit from a 22% tax credit before December of 2023.

What Information Will I Need to File a Corporate Tax Return?

To file a tax return for a corporation, you will need several pieces of information and supporting documentation. With the help of your corporate tax preparer, you must fill out IRS Form 1120, which asks for your income, losses, gains, credit, and deductions. Gather the following supporting documents in preparation for filing your corporate return:

  • Your company’s employer identification number (EIN)
  • The company’s address
  • List of compensation to board members or company officers
  • W2s, W3s, and 1099s you sent to employers or contractors
  • Receipts and invoices for sales and purchases of goods or services
  • Receipts of employee health benefits plan contributions
  • Documentation of charitable giving 
  • Mileage documentation if claiming mileage deduction
  • Reports and documents pertaining to other investments or distributions made to investors or shareholders

What Expenses Can I Deduct When Filing My Corporate Tax Return?

As a corporation, you may be able to deduct numerous business expenses on your corporate tax return. To count as deductible, an expense must be both ordinary (common and accepted in your line of business) and necessary (appropriate and helpful for your business).

For instance, you can deduct the business portion of your payroll taxes, payment for repairs and maintenance of your workplace, payment for advertising, and rent payment.

You may also deduct certain perks you give your employees, such as employee benefits programs, pensions, profit-sharing plans, and charitable contributions.

You can also deduct various state, local, and foreign taxes directly attributed to your business, such as sales tax. C-corporations, S-corporations, and partnerships can all deduct state taxes on their business returns. Federal income taxes cannot be deducted.

Personal expenses are always nondeductible. If you are unsure if a payment is a personal or business expense, speak with a tax preparation expert who understands the nuances of IRS rules. You may deal with a combined expense, where you must divide the total cost into business and personal expenses.

Corporations should be prepared to provide full details about deductible business expenses in the event of a tax audit. 

FAQs

Questions about corporate tax filing? We have the answers.

Businesses must file taxes yearly to comply with IRS regulations. The IRS has a three or six-year statute of limitations to audit business tax filings. It can extend this in many cases, so it’s important to file corporate taxes on time or ask for an extension to avoid adverse consequences.

Not filing business taxes can result in an IRS audit, steep fines, and criminal prosecution. You may receive a letter notifying you of a Failure to File Penalty if you don’t pay. This penalty is 5% of your unpaid taxes for each month you don’t file, but it can’t exceed 25% of your unpaid taxes. 

Although rare, you may face criminal charges from the IRS if you commit tax fraud or tax evasion. If convicted of tax evasion, you may face fines of up to $500,000 and 5 years imprisonment.

Yes, if you own a corporation, you must file a tax return regardless of income. According to the IRS, domestic corporations are responsible for filing unless they fall under section 501 exemptions. Certain partnerships or LLCs may not have to file for zero-income tax years; it’s prudent to file a return in most cases.

The answer depends on the state where the S Corp owner or owners reside. The effective tax rate for LLCs is 15.3% of all net profits. This rate mirrors the self-employment tax rate for sole proprietorships and applies unless the LLC meets C Corp or S Corp criteria and elects to be taxed as such. S Corporations are pass-through entities, and owners pay taxes on the income at their personal tax rate, which can vary between 10% and 30% by state.

If you own a business in the U.S., you must pay taxes. Corporation owners don’t pay individual income taxes on their business’s profits. The company reports its earnings on Form 1120 and pays taxes at the corporate tax rate of 21%. Owners then file separate income taxes to report their wages and other earnings from the company.

Based on a recent IRS publication, sole proprietorships owned individuals making over $10 million per year have the highest audit rates. This group saw an 8% increase in audits from 2019 to 2022. The IRS states that its focus is on high-earning individuals rather than large corporations or pass-through entities.